Queen's, St Hugh's in big showdown

TWO of the top Corporate Area teams in schoolgirls netball will feature in two big clashes today at the Leila Robinson courts when the penultimate round of matches in the second round of the Digicel/ISSA Corporate Area competition gets under way at 2 p.m.

The Queen's School and St Hugh's High have dominated netball in the Corporate Area for a number of years, and after playing unbeaten all season will meet in both senior and junior divisions today.

The junior teams will meet first with the Marvette Anderson-coached Queen's, the defending Corporate Area and all-island champions, aiming to extend their three-year unbeaten run at this level. Their last defeat at this level came in the 2008 final where they were beaten by St Andrew High. Despite losing most of their junior players from last year, Queen's have scored three big wins in the second round over St Jago, Camperdown and Ardenne. They have scored a combined 100 points while conceding 40.

Great season

It has also been a great season so far for St Hugh's. They were beaten at the semi-final stage last year and will want to go all the way this time around. Like Queen's, they have scored three wins in the second round, defeating Campion, St Jago and Ardenne.

St Hugh's have a slightly better record than their opponents as they have tallied 118 goals while conceding 42.

In the senior section, St Hugh's face a stiff task to retain their title as they will face a very talented Queen's team which, undoubtedly, is the best in the competition so far. With most of last year's junior players now on the senior team, they have continued where they have left off in 2010. Their biggest win is a crushing 78-9 victory over St Jago High and they have tallied some 200 goals while just conceding 41.

Although unbeaten, St Hugh's will have to show a lot of improvement if they are to stop Queen's. They have not been impressive, having scored 110 goals while their opponents have breached their defence 69 times.

In Group II of the competition, St Catherine High will also be seeking to maintain their unbeaten record in both juniors and seniors. In the junior section, they will oppose Holy Childhood High while in senior action their opponents are Meadowbrook High.

Other scheduled matches:

Juniors: Campion vs St Jago; Camperdown vs Ardenne; Mona vs Vauxhall; Norman Manley vs Clan Carthy

Seniors: Wolmer's vs St. Jago; Camperdown vs Bridgeport; Tarrant vs St Andrew Technical; St. Andrew vs Excelsior.